The Beast
by Reiders
Summary: It has been twenty years since the start of the very first VRMMORPG; Gods' Nature, a hundred years in game time. Much about the game is still unknown, about the game, about the three Ascended Gods, about Kaiser. For the first time ever, people are getting a look into the life of the man who reigns supreme over beast and man.
1. Interview

**I live! Mwahahahaha!**

**I just got back form a month and a half long trip around Europe (I already miss Paris T-T). Before I left I had decided to move Prices We Pay to another web site because of its nature. I didn't want to leave readers high and dry however so I will be replacing it with two stories I started while I was away. **

**Incidentally, Prices We Pay should be up this time next week at the latest and Fate/Freedom within the month.**

**This story is one a friend of mine asked me to write. It is an original that is loosely based off of the Legendary Moonlight Sculptor. For those that frequent they will know that this type of story isn't that rare there. That same friend using an account he created with the name Reiders posted this chapter there while I was away.**

**I am the same person so it not plagiarizing!**

**That being said:**

**On with the show!**

***Edit:12/01/15**

**Just got a PM telling me that my line breaks were not showing up in my stories. Now I am going back through all of them to edit.**

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><p>And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.<p>

_- King James Bible "Authorized Version", Cambridge Edition, Book of Revelation, 11:7_

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><p>The dark image on the television lightened up slowly, both for the dramatic effects and to allow the natural lighting of the area to be demonstrated. The first thing that happened was the camera panning along the room, giving viewers a complete sense of where this momentous event was to unfold. It could also be because of the wonder the cameraman felt after gazing upon such a glorious room.<p>

High marble pillars held up a spherical roof with a hole in the apex, fashioned after the roman pantheon, the building obviously sought to not only imitate one of humanities greatest architectural achievements but to rise above it. It certainly succeeded.

The building was ovoid, curving at the end before returning, two rows of pillars lead down the middle, creating a natural path to follow. Each pillar held many decorations carved into them, scenes that marked achievements so momentous that they were to be recorded in stone and memory for all time.

Thirteen great windows stretched from floor to ceiling, over a hundred meters in height and twenty in width, they covered the walls of the building, six on each side followed by one in the back. Three were painted, the one at the far end and the two on each side. They were stained in vivid colors, depicting scenes of legends, tales that humanity whispered about in awe, for wherever you looked upon that beautiful glass, you saw many a scene of glory; scenes of battle, of life, of death, scenes that danced in joy or wept in sorrow. It wouldn't be difficult to call these windows the pinnacle of art.

The other ten massive pieces of glass, though not painted in wondrous colors or depicting scenes of legends, they did still display majestic beauty. For, through those plain pieces of glass lay a glorious view. Clouds, stretching as far as the eye could see, were a sea of clouds. The full moon in the night sky provided light as billions upon billions of stars twinkled above. This was a view that should only be available to a god.

The curved ceiling was carved as well, depicting a world in wondrous detail; everything was there, sculpted and painted to perfection. The truly beautiful thing about it was that it was alive. Mountains jutted downwards, their towering peaks looking as if snow had only freshly graced their surface. Rivers flowed along the tapestry merging into larger and larger currents before rejoining the sea. Forests teamed with life, trees swaying to a breeze only they could feel, as wind flowed through the branches and out the forest, over grassy planes that danced to the notes in the air.

In other places clouds rolled and stormed, harsh gray flecked with specks of light that flashed every once and a while where lightning would strike. The seas would roll with waves as they rose and fell. Simply looking at the ceiling was like looking upon a world itself, because that's what it was, The World. If one looked close enough, they would be able to see cities, castles, towns, and, if one had really good eyes, even people as they went about their day-to-day lives. The only exception in which the tapestry laid was the circular hole in the ceiling, letting in light from the moon.

Though it was nighttime outside, the building was well lit. Massive braziers hung form golden chains, the flickering flames providing lighting, casting shadows along the walls while still allowing the room to be seen in full.

The camera finally finished its tour of the room before setting itself facing the back of the building. A reporter stood in front of the camera, a pretty thing that wouldn't be out of place in a Hollywood blockbuster. She exuded an air around her, even as she herself remained enraptured by the building's majesty. The pointed ears and pale skin demonstrated her High Elf race clearly. She finally seemed to realize that she had forgotten her job as she turned her attention back towards the camera, face slightly flushed in embarrassment. Coughing delicately into her hand, she tried to regain her bearings.

"Welcome viewers to a very special program. For those just joining us, I am Mary and with me, is my faithful companion Wendy." Though she had trouble starting, she eventually regained her calm, though a big smile never lost itself from her face. "Here on Natural Paths, we are dedicated to providing our viewers with the most riveting and exciting moments and events in the virtual reality massive multiplayer online roleplaying game; Gods' Nature. Before I begin today's episode, we first want to extend my thanks to all our viewers and followers, those that have supported us over all these years and allowed us to become what we are today.

When the two of us started this show, we did it with the goal of not only providing important news to players of Gods' Nature, but to also entertain and give enjoyment to our viewers. Now we are the single most popular show to ever be broadcasted, and it wouldn't be the same without everybody's dedication. Wendy and I would like to thank you for making this dream come true." After having said her piece, Mary bowed to the camera, unshed tears in her eyes, showing that she truly meant every word of thanks; it was one of the reasons for the show's unprecedented success, because of the host's sincerity. "Now, on our nineteenth anniversary, exactly twenty years since Gods' Nature came out in real life and exactly one hundred years ago in game time, we have the great honor of being the host to the very first ever interview with the game's creator. That's right folks, for the first time ever appearing on television, or giving an interview, I am very honored to welcome Alexander Bartholomew!"

The man that walked into the screen's view wasn't what most people expected when they thought of the creator of the most popular thing to ever be created by human hands. When most people thought of Alexander Bartholomew they thought of a stereotypical elderly scientist. After all, he had created the most advanced machine known to man so most people expected gray hair, a withered face or maybe a lab coat, they expected to see somebody past their second century in age at least. Instead they got a normal man, brown hair, brown eyes, not too handsome, yet not ugly either, he barely looked past one hundred and fifty, still in the first half of the average human life span.

When the man walked out into the screen, there wasn't any applause, people were not allowed into this building unless under very special circumstances. In fact, before today, not even a thousand out of over twelve billion players knew of its existence and only under a hundred people have ever actually visited. But there didn't need to be applause as the man, though he looked normal, still carried a certain atmosphere around himself. He walked with confident strides towards the young woman, a happy smile on his face.

"It is an honor, Mr. Bartholomew, sir." The way she spoke, clearly demonstrated the nerves Mary was feeling as she bowed towards the man. Nobody would blame her however, because she was talking to somebody who could be considered royalty. No, royalty had been one thing, but speaking to the richest man in the world as well as somebody who changed humanity in massive ways was very nerve-racking. To do it live, in front of billions made the situation even worse, so it wasn't surprising that Mary was feeling nervous.

"Please, it is my pleasure Miss Mary and you too Miss Wendy, I have been a fan of your show for a little under seventeen years now. I am really happy to finally meet you two." His voice was exuberant, he spoke with such happiness, such Joy de Vivre that the hostess couldn't help but flush in embarrassment.

"Really?"

"Of course!" The creator cried as he thrust his arms up in excitement like a little child. "The first time I ever saw one of your shows was when you showed the Battle of the Empty Plains, your portrait of the battle was not only amazing, but your courage so close to danger, as well as providing such insight in the tactics used by both sides, was of immense value. Ever since that broadcast I have been a steady fan of your show." As Alexander continued to gush about her show, the hostess slowly got redder and redder, her embarrassment growing at the same time as her happiness. It wasn't everyday one gets praised by such an idol after all.

The creator wasn't unique in the fact that he started to follow her after that particular battle. That show had been her first true success, it was only because of it that she was where she was to day. The Battle of the Empty Plains was also the first time people heard of the true Kaiser.

Even though Mary would love nothing more to continue to chat with Alexander, she had a duty to her viewers to get as much information as possible in the short time the interview went on.

"Thank you sir, I always try to get and give as much information I can to the viewers while still making it enjoyable. Simply knowing that you watched is a huge honor, and I would love to talk in more depth about what your thoughts were, but I am afraid that would take up all the time we have."

"Ah, yes, I suppose we should get on with the interview then." His fervor now calmed down some, Alexander looked a little embarrassed about his outburst. "I suppose that you have many questions you need to ask, and I will do my best to answer as much as possible in the time we have, though I do request the last thirty minutes for a little surprise."

"Now you are just making me curious, though I guess I will have to wait as I do have many questions popping in from the viewers. So lets get started shall we? The first question I must ask, possibly the most common one ever asked about the game is; why did you decide to name the game Gods' Nature? Many people feel that the name, while appropriate based on content, isn't the right choice."

"Well, to tell the truth, I am not very good with naming things, I just don't have a knack for it at all." The man looked a little sheepish as he admitted that. "I ended up naming it so, because that was the both the first thing that popped into my mind, and because it was after I had completed the game and just wanted to put it out in the open as quick as possible."

"So it's true that you made the game completely by yourself?" Mary couldn't help but widen her eyes in wonder, the sheer effort and time it must have taken in order to build a game of such size.

"Yes and no, as anybody in the gaming industry could tell you, it is not easy to make a game. There is not only programming, but also art work, story, character design, world and history building, dialog, progression, balance issues and a whole slue of other problems that need to be met if one wants to publish a good game."

"Then how did you do it?"

"I sort of cheated. I feared that if I allowed others to aid me too much, that I would lose the vision that I had when starting the game so, instead of hiring other people to aid me, I decided that I would start form the top and work my way down. I wanted to design my own helper, so, using my knowledge in programing, I created the AI that would eventually regulate Gods' Nature.

It took the better part of a decade, but the artificial intelligence that I dubbed Overseer was created. Overseer was meant to do just that, to oversee the entire operation of the game, to help me develop it and to regulate any issues that were to come up. With its help, it only took me another decade and a half to set the world, the rules I wanted to implement and how the game was going to work. With Overseer's help, naming wasn't a problem anymore as it had the ability to look through the Internet in search of viable names, that were not only appropriate, but also fit the setting. It also helped in every other department."

"That is very impressive, the fact that it only took you two and half decades to create such a marvelous game." She wasn't just complementing him; her words were completely sincere, because of the sheer massiveness that was Gods' Nature.

When the game first appeared, people only knew of the creators name because it was on the box that the game arrived in. So, once the true scope of the game was known, people were wondering what company had designed it, with only the creator's name on the box a rumor started circulating that only one person made it. It was immediately shot down because people realized just how massive the game was, they realized that simply creating the billions of characters would take an entire corporation the better part of a century. To hear that only one person built it over a period a quarter of the time expected, was shocking in the extreme.

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no, it took me and overseer another ten years after we built the system and world before we were ready to release it to the public." He waved his hands in dismissal.

"I don't understand, after you built the game what was left?"

"Well, I still had to design the capsules that allow the player to be fully immersed into the game, then I had to make certain they were not only safe, but also provided benefits. I am not nearly as good at engineering as I am at programing, so just building the prototype took me a couple years."

"I see!" She exclaimed, not understanding how she had forgotten one of the biggest parts that revolutionized gamming. Full immersion had been a thing of science fiction before the capsules that came with Gods' Nature appeared. "But what do you mean benefits?"

"You see I was born in the late twenty-third century. By then gaming had been formally recognized as an art form, as opposed to the late twenty and twenty-first centuries. We had progressed to the point where we could wear suits and our body's movements matched the characters and we wore helmet like design that showed the game rather than looking at it in the television. This made gaming an exercise.

I was born into a rather rich family, so I had the most advanced games of the time, but my dad would tell me stories of the early days of gaming, how people would sit down and not get any exercise, loosing their health slowly but surely. I feared my capsules would have the same results because you are only moving your avatar rather than your real body. I decided to design the capsules in order to fix that problem as well as remain in good health. I made it so that the effort you put forth in the game would be reflected in your real life body, because of stimuli provided by the capsule, making it move the appropriate muscles in regard to actions taken in game. This option can be disabled if one wishes, or if they have a health problem that would make this option dangerous."

"The public already knew about the option, but to hear it from you, makes what you did all the more impressive. So, that is why it took you ten more years to release the game? Because you wanted to make certain everything was safe?"

"A little bit, but another reason was while I was starting on the capsule, Overseer had already started to monitor the game, trying to make certain everything was going all right. It made a startling discovery. The world was growing!"

"What do you mean growing?"

"Well, in other games, the creators have to program each individual Non Player Character so there are no problems with their character or performance. However, because of the scale of Gods' Nature I couldn't very well program billions of characters because not only are there too many but new ones are always dying and being born. To solve this, I created it so that each character was a fully functional mini-AI. This means that each of them is unique. The only difference between me and you and them is the fact that they only have virtual bodies, though to them their virtual bodies are their physical ones."

"So that's why marriage between NPCs and Players are allowed! Because they are essentially human beings without a body!" Mary was shocked at this; it was always impossible to tell the difference between an NPC and a Player unless you asked specifically.

"Yes and no, that is why marriage is permitted, but they aren't really completely human."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that although they each are unique, it is their story that makes them so. When an NPC dies, instead of disappearing the AI is recycled and reborn as someone else, still entirely unique but with a different story based on their new circumstances. The exception is, of course, that each personality is stored for the future, if they are somehow revived. But we have digressed from what I was trying to explain."

"Oh yeah. You said that Overseer had discovered something while you were building the capsules, and you mentioned the world was growing." A look of deep interest passed over the hostess. So far the interview had revealed many things that would keep the media occupied for some time, and there was still much more to come, many more questions to be asked, and the time dedicated to allowing questions from the audience. There was also the surprise that Alexander mentioned that he had.

"Right! Because each character is basically alive, there was nothing stopping them from growing by themselves. In other games, characters are there for the players, while they might do something without the character there, they still need an external stimulus to progress quests or to develop. On the other hand, while I started on the hardware for the game, the world grew, characters built towns then cities, and they started religions, went hunting, and grew stronger and more skilled. When Overseer told me, I was very happy, this meant that the game had so much more potential than I ever thought in my original dream. Because of this, for the next decade, I decided to change the time dilation to a much greater setting, allowing time to flow much more quickly in game than in real life. By the time I was ready for mass consumption, over twenty-five thousand years had passed in game."

"So everything in game, history wise, actually happened rather than just being put there for context?" This was very surprising because most games only had history to provide context and raise immersion.

"Yes! I am quite pleased how it turned out." Indeed, the inventor looked very happy, almost ecstatic.

"Then how does that tie into the two Time Quests?" This had been on her mind for a while.

"You mean when a player gets sent back into the past in order to interact with an event in the past?"

"That's right, so far two people have received quests that sent them into the past, because of that it ended up changing the current game."

"To tell the truth, time quests were not originally part of what I had in mind for the game. They came to be because of entirely organic means. What that means is they weren't programmed to happen, instead the world took it upon itself to create these quests and the consequences they had. All three were originally real conflicts of the world that happened in the past while I was growing the game, by sending the three players to the past the game essentially decided to allow the players to change its history."

"Three? To my knowledge, only two people have ever received a quest to go into the past, the Mistress of Might and the Sage of Wisdom both allowed me to cover their adventure in the past." The reporter frowned a little, if another person had participated in a Time Quest and she didn't know about it, it would seriously hurt her reputation of always being present where important events happened. There also hadn't been any great changes to the present that weren't accounted for by the changes made by the previous two people.

"You didn't know? I thought that you simply hadn't decided to publish the story yet and were saving it for another time, even though it was years ago." Alexander looked a little surprised at the revelation. "Well, to tell the truth, all three Ascended Gods have completed a major quest in the past. In fact, the two you mentioned did it after the other one."

"Wait a second sir, you mean to tell me that Kaiser, The Kaiser, not only completed a quest in the past that nobody knows about or noticed but he was the first to ever travel through time!" The woman looked shocked at this. This was major news, it would be all over the world, being discussed and reviewed before the interview was over.

"That's right, I am honestly surprised you didn't know about it. Out of the three-time travel quest, his had the greatest after affects. He ended up destroying an entire species."

"So The Kaiser, not only went to the past, but also is the reason for an entire species that nobody knew about?"

At the man's nod, the hostess found herself in a dilemma. On one hand, she was very curious about the quest, so little was known about The Kaiser that this little tidbit was worth its weight in gold, her viewers were also probably foaming at the mouth to know more about the events regarding the quest of such a controversial figure. On the other hand, this was the first time the inventor of Gods' Nature ever gave an interview, and if she went off on tangent, she might never have this opportunity again, she also owed it to her viewers to get as many questions answered as possible before she ran out of time. With a resigned sigh, she made her decision.

"While I would love to ask more about the quest, I fear that we have changed subjects. I still have a few more questions to ask before we go to the viewer questions." It really did look like the thought of not getting her curiosity satisfied was physically painful for the woman.

"I understand and I am ready for more questions. Don't be too disappointed however, you might just get the story after all." The smile on his face changed into a mysterious one.

"All right, next question. How did you come about setting up the Nature system?" Mary was genuinely curious about this as well, it was a unique concept implemented for the game.

"I always liked sandbox games the most, the freedom to explore new worlds and universes drew me in like nothing else, so MMO's were a big part of the inspiration because the game I dreamed of was one where people from all over played with each other. This meant that I had to have someway of classifying skills. Other games might have you choose from a set list, a class at the start of the game. I didn't like this because it was too limited in options. Sometimes the classes are chosen in game, this means that there are usually more to choose from, and you can choose one that fits you best, and if you get lucky you might get a hidden or unique class, I don't like this because your class could depend more on luck and what's available than what you are really suited for.

So I had the idea of having the players creating their own classes. This had its own set of problems because gamers, MMO players especially, are opportunistic and would abuse the system like there is no tomorrow, trying to give themselves the best skills right away with little to no effort. It was attempted early in the game with the Nature system before people realized the consequences of their actions. So I was left with the idea of having people create their own class without destroying the game's balance. I then had the idea of limiting their input on their class creation while still allowing them to create their own.

So the Nature system was born. When creating a character, simply name your class, or Nature as it were, and then give a small description of what you think that class means and what they specialize in, while trying to make it a balanced character. Every Nature has its own advantages and disadvantages provided based on the description, the greater the advantages, the greater the disadvantages. This system also means that unless you deliberately copy another's description, two Natures with the same name could be completely different. Two Warrior Natures could be complete opposites based on description provided. Because of this anybody can theoretically learn any skill in game, but only those tied with the description of your nature will provide the complete benefits "

"You put a lot of thought into the system, it has been a roaring success. This system allows not only hard core gamers to be unique and have exciting adventures but it also allows part time players the ability to see the world, relax and enjoy the game to its fullest."

"That was my goal. Out of curiosity, what is the name of your Nature, I don't think you ever mentioned it in your show?" A little taken aback by the question, the reporter had no problem telling the name of her Nature; after all, it was the description that really mattered if someone wanted to imitate her.

"I named my Nature Chronicler! It fit best what I wanted to achieve in game. To tell stories and legends to the people of the world that would be passed down through the ages. Thanks to Nature's Path I have achieved my dream and can continue to present the world with everything it needs to know about the events in Gods' Nature."

"That's great! I am happy you achieved your dream." Alexander honestly was happy for her, it was why he created the game in the first place.

"Thank you. How about you? You mentioned a dream of your own a time or two. What was your dream when you were thinking of making Gods' Nature?"

"I have always believed in potential." The fervor in the inventor's eyes conveyed the seriousness of his words. "The potential to achieve things thought impossible was something I looked for throughout my entire life. I found that humans have long since lost that potential. If you look at what we have achieved today, purely objectively, then you realize that as a race we have achieved monumental things. We explored our entire planet, mined asteroids and comets, colonized mars and now we are starting to reach beyond our solar system. Our life expectancy can be measured in centuries; war, poverty and hunger are at an all time low.

All this is amazing for humanity as a whole, but what about the humans. Along the way we lost something. Where are our legends, our heroes? The people who we admire because they transcended their limits and their stories eco throughout time disappeared a long time ago. Religion is almost extinct so we cannot admire gods. The closest things we have are heroes of the past, people who achieved great things, such as Hercules, King Arthur, Alexander The Great, Jeanne D'Arc and other men and women who shaped the world around them. Because in present day it isn't as difficult to live day to day as it was in the past, people don't have the ambition, the will that they used to. We are happier than we have ever been, but it wasn't without cost. Humans have nothing to fight or fight for, so we stagnated as people because we weren't challenged.

When I set out to create Gods' Nature, I didn't dream of a successful game or to become rich. I dreamed of a world where people are challenged, where they have to overcome adversity, where they are the ones who set their own path, and then walk through it to the end. I dreamed of a world where ambition doesn't just mean becoming rich, but to become a legend, somebody who will always be remembered and revered as well as despised. I dreamed of a world where a person's will and effort decided how far they went in life, for it is only when we try our hardest, where we find our limits and then overcome them, can we truly grow. I dreamed of a world without limits, where anybody could achieve their fullest potential."

The passion in Alexander's voice startled the reporter, but she couldn't help but be drawn in by the way he spoke.

"Wow! That is amazing! I can now see how you won the Nobel Prize. You are truly an inspiration!" At this statement that man only shook his head.

"I don't want people to be inspired by me, I want them to be their own inspiration, to go out there and grasp their dreams with their own two hands."

"Never the less, your dream has allowed me to achieve mine. For that I thank you." The way the woman looked to him in thanks made it impossible for the man to decline the thanks he received, instead he settled for a simple nod of the head.

Sensing a lull in the conversation, Mary turned her eyes to look to her assistant and camerawoman in order to gauge the time. Her eyes widened in slight surprise upon noticing a good bit more time than she realized.

"My apologies, sir. It seems we have gotten a little too into the conversation and time has slipped by us." Her tone was both respectful and playful as talking to the man had been a lot more fun than she thought it would be. "If you don't mind, before we get to the surprise you mentioned, I would like to receive questions from the audience."

"No problem! I admit that I sometimes let my passion get away from me, and am often too exuberant in my meetings." Alexander scratched the back of his head awkwardly upon admitting that as he turned his eyes in slight embarrassment from allowing himself to get so worked up. "As I mentioned at the start, I would like for the last bit of the show in order to unveil my surprise. Before that however, I have no problem answering questions from your audience as I imagine that they are very curious. I might not be able to answer some questions because of confidentiality or spoilers, but I will do my best to provide what I can."

"I understand completely." She said, knowing that some things were simply better left unknown for the surprise of it and that he couldn't give out information regarding a player without the person's consent other wise he could get sued.

Opening her chat window, an easy process to do as she only had to think about it for it to appear, she switched her preferences from only accepting messages from friends to accepting all incoming messages. Her screen was immediately inundated with messages, every thing from love letters, to threats, to well wishes, to questions to be asked of the man she stood next to. Not that she could read anything, new messages disappearing and replaced with new ones as soon as they appeared. Mary remained calm however; this had been expected, especially during such a momentous event. Quickly opening her settings, she set up the way she wanted to receive messages. First she had her inbox automatically sort everything into the categories' they fell under before bringing the questions to the forefront. She then grouped the similar questions into sub-categories, allowing her to see which ones were the most asked and pertinent. All this only took her a minute before she was ready to ask questions.

"The first question I have comes from a person bearing the name Argo The Rat; 'you mentioned that you tested the safety of the capsules before releasing them, wouldn't it have been better to do that in public. It is not rare for fiction to mention people being trapped in virtual reality, how could you have been certain that people wouldn't have been too cautious to play the game.'"

"That was actually something I had prepared for. Before release, I needed to make certain I had the appropriate measure covered. I did this by providing each country a set number of capsules to make certain they were safe for their citizens. I gave them one month to prove they weren't in any way a danger; if they could not then I would go public with the game. They couldn't stop me because I am an independent developer with no ties to any nation and so were forced to give their best efforts in the time they were given. Needless to say, there were no problems with my design."

Alexander looked rather amused as he explained the situation, no doubt remembering the faces of the government officials when they realized they could do nothing but what he told. Either they tested the capsules out or didn't in the time given. Since they couldn't stop the release, if they didn't test the capsules and there was a danger, then they would be lynched for their failure. They also couldn't stop the release, as, when the public got word that their government wouldn't allow the first virtual reality game to be sold in their country, the media would crucify them when other countries allowed the game to be sold there.

Nodding her head to the answer, the hostess turned her attention back towards her inbox to look for the next question. She found one more common than others.

"A player by the name of John D'oe asked; 'what is the difference between a B rank quest and an A rank quest. What is the difference in between a B rank and B+ or B-.'" The name was somewhat funny, a play on the name of John Doe, used for unidentified people, and Jeanne D'Arc, the Maid of Orleans. The question itself was something the woman was very interested in, it had long been asked, and just what was the difference in difficulty between ranks of quests.

"That I can answer by simply explaining how I decided to rank the difficulty of quests. I first set it up so an F rank quest, the lowest, has a difficulty of 1. These quests are the sort of chores beginners do to get money, they range from washing dishes to taking out trash, basically things that are very difficult to fail at. An F+ rank means that the difficulty is 2. These are still basically chores but might have a slight restriction on them like a time limit. F++ quests have a difficulty of 4, something twice as hard as F+ quests but still relatively easy to do for a beginner if they have enough knowledge. Then we move up to E, which has a difficulty of 10, this is probably where people will first see combat, only against such things as a fox or a rabbit. An E- quest has a difficulty of 8, twice as difficult as a F++ quest but still less than an E.

An E+ quest has a difficulty of 20, twice as much as E ranks; these will possibly have you face wolves and other more dangerous creatures. E++ has a difficulty of 40; you might find yourself against a pack of wolves that are slightly more intelligent than others, allowing them to use tactics. D rank quests have a difficulty of 100; ten times that of E ranks. You will probably see your first named monster, or mob however you will have to call them. It is also at the D rank that most people start using the party system, hunting mobs in groups with other people rather than alone, exceptions are present however if a person has a higher level than usual or if other situations are present. The pattern continues, a minus on the rank meaning that the quest is twenty percent less difficult, making D- rank quests have a difficulty of 80. A D+ or D++ have a difficulty of 200 and 400 respectively, each subsequent + doubling the difficulty. A higher letter multiplies the difficulty by ten than the difficulty of the letter after it. A C rank is where people will probably encounter their first significant boss battle."

"So that means that quests get very difficult very fast, the higher one goes in the system." Mary stated in observation. "So F equals 1, E 10, D 100, C 1000, B 10,000, A 100,000, S 1,000,000 and SS 10,000,000!" It was shocking just how high the known ranks went, the difference in each was enormous.

"Yes, but that is only the basics." At the woman's inquisitive looks, the inventor continued. "While those are the difficulties as they stand that the beginning of a quest, which is when the system calculates the problems the players will face while trying to complete the request, it is often said 'a plan never survives contact with the enemy'. This is especially true in the game. I earlier mentioned how that I ended up not only creating a world, where each NPC is its own person with independent thought, because of this, random occurrences sometimes pop up that affect the difficulty of the quest.

One of the best examples I ever heard about was a standard expulsion quest. Once a month the lord of the land would ask a group of players to kill all the bandits that took over a nearby ruined fort. The quest happened regularly for seven months and always had a rank of D++, making it a good time for players to get experience while still staying away from the boss monsters that came with a C difficulty. On the eighth month however, a band of ranger from a nearby kingdom was passing the area and decided to help the players out. This lowered the difficulty mid mission to a D, something the players were none to happy about as it lowered the experience they would receive upon handing in the completed mission. As you know the higher the difficulty and rarity of the quest completed, the greater the reward and experience gained. The next month, instead, a band of mercenaries were passing by and, upon hearing the commotion decided to kill both the players and the bandits, and steal their money and items. There were quite a lot of mercenaries and one of the mercenaries qualified as a boss character so everybody was slaughtered when the difficulty rose from D++ to a C+. It simply goes to show that nothing is ever certain."

"The system is simple yet effective, a good way to let players know if they are getting over their heads." Complemented Mary before something occurred to her. "Just to be clear, the quest; The Crusade. The one that took the Mistress of Might and the Sage of Wisdom joining together with all their lieutenants and over a billion players and who knows how many NPCs, the quest that could have reshaped the world upon its failure. The one that is the highest ranked quest ever recorded with a rank of SS++ had a difficulty of 40,000,000!"

"That's right." Alexander said with a calm nod of the head, despite the reporter's shock. "As you well know the higher the difficulty of the quest, the greater impact it has on the world. A C rank quest might effect a region, a B rank a kingdom, an A rank might have effects on multiple kingdoms. An S rank on the other hand will affect an entire continent and an SS ranked quest will have an impact on the entire world. SS++ being the hardest difficulty quest known to the public, it would have had dire consequences should it fail, leading to two of the three Ascended Gods, the two who didn't get along very well, to form an alliance to be certain that the quest wouldn't fail."

"Wait!" Mary picked up on something in his way of speech. "You specifically mentioned that The Crusade was the highest ranked quest known _to the public_. So there are more difficult quests out there that have been discovered?" Her answer was a mysterious smile that looked a little smug.

"I am afraid I cannot answer that as it is part of the surprise I have in store later. Your curiosity will be satisfied, but later however."

Wanting to know more, her curiosity was part of Mary's stronger personality traits, but resigned to the fact that she would have to wait, not that she would have to wait long as time was once more slipping her by she realized upon looking at Wendy who tapped her wrist with her fingers, the universal indicator that time was ticking. Once more, Mary turned her attention to the chat window. She ignored questions about quests and specific items. She also ignored questions on specific people as that might be considered a breach of privacy. Instead she focused on questions about the game itself or its systems.

"A question from the player Stibbons; 'How do you explain the fact that early on in game, the highest level players were of the production classes? Was it an experience boost for them early on so they wouldn't be looked down on?'"

"No, production classes received no experience boost. The reason for the fact that the first person to reach level 100 was a merchant has to do with the Nature system I implemented. It might not be known, but if your actions are close to the Nature you chose, you receive a minor experience boost for every action. That is why a merchant Nature could make it so far; his every action was geared towards making more money, allowing him slightly more experience. As long as it is geared towards your nature it can be given a buff. For example, say a sculptor Nature wanted to fight, he could go to a training center and learn how to fight with a sword just as well as any other starter player, but if he started hunting he would get less experience than a Warrior nature because their nature is more in tuned with hunting things, though not as much as a Hunter Nature. On the other hand if the sculptor is hunting monsters for material to use or if he is killing them for inspiration for a sculpture, he will progress just as quickly in levels as a Warrior, though his combat skills wont develop as quickly as a fighter Nature.

This also has other affects on Natures. If you chose a Priest or Priestess Nature but only want the healing abilities without actually praying to the god, you wont progress as quickly as someone who chose a Healer Nature. This was why it was slightly easier for production classes, because they had a clear goal to accompany their Nature. An artist produces art, a Blacksmith works with metal, and a Merchant tries to make money. A Healer should heal, rather than hunting with a group it would give more experience to work in a hospital, a Hunter should hunt dangerous animals rather than try and kill mobs or bandits, and a Warrior should fight rather than hunt. At the end of the day, it is best if you dedicate your actions to getting closer and closer to your nature, you will progress much quicker."

"That was very informative, thank you!" Looking once more at the clock on her chat screen she realized they had very little time left if Alexander wanted the last half hour for his surprise. "I fear that we only have time left for one more question, so I will ask one that most people think about. Haunter asks; 'It has now been twenty years since Gods' Nature has been released, a hundred years in game time. While those of us who started playing in the beginning started in small kingdoms and had to discover more places as we grew, over the years there are less and less places to discover. It is generally accepted that players have discovered over eighty percent of places in the game and it is estimated that it will only take two more years in real life to discover the last twenty percent. Is this true? If it is, what is to be done about it so that people don't get bored with no more left to discover?'"

Rather than worried at the potential loss of people playing the game because they have less and less new things, Alexander Bartholomew was smiling a mile wide smile. Before he answered he opened his character screen to look at the time, if anything his smile widened. Turning back towards the hostess he finally answered.

"I am glad you asked that, especially now. I can conclusively say that no, eighty percent of the world has not been discovered. I cannot give you an accurate percentage of how much has been discovered, as, even though I am the creator, I do not know every thing about this world. Why? Simple, because, as mentioned before, the world continues to grow even past the point where my knowledge extends. Remember, between completing the game and releasing it, over twenty-five thousand years had passed in game time, without me observing so there are still many surprises in store for everyone, myself included. I wont tell anymore till later, as it would ruin the surprise, but trust me, nobody has anything to be worried about."

"So what is this surprise you have for us, you have kept us in suspense for so long I fear I may burst from curiosity." Indeed, Mary did look ready to burst, slightly bouncing on the balls of her feet; her eyes roamed the build in excitement.

"Before that," the slight glare he received from the reporter made Alexander chuckle a little. "What do you think of this building?"

A little taken aback by the seemingly random question, the hostess replied truthfully nonetheless.

"It is amazing! The artwork, the pillars, the ceiling, the view, everything is so beautiful; I had no idea a place like this could exist. It is just so majestic!" It was the truth to; it would take a combination of the best sculptors, architects, painters and enchanters to create a building resembling this, and it wouldn't have half as many details.

"I agree completely, out of all places I have seen in the game and in real life, this place is by far my favorite. Not just for the beauty but for what it represents. The full name of this building: Pantheon of Ascended Gods. Less than a hundred players have walked in this building, to do so requires permission from one of the three Ascended." As Mary's eyes widened in realization she went to ask a question, but the inventor was absorbed in the moment. "Each pillar tells the tail of an adventure that has shaped the world today, the ceiling shows everything that players have discovered and the windows, the crowning jewel of this wonder, depicts the paths taken to ascension and the challenges that followed." Looking once more to his screen, he turned back toward the hostess.

"It is now just past midnight in game, noon in real life, the guests I invited should be here any moment."

In a moment, as if rehearsed, two guests did appear. There was no flash of light nor any applause or fanfare. One moment the building was empty, the next, a group appeared in front of the windows to the left and right respectively. When one looked closer, each group looked a little off, as if you were looking through a veil. The scenery in front of each window also looked a little diluted, one moment it looked like it did before, the next it appeared as a great hall filled with wealth and trophies to the right of a large library, filled with towers upon towers of books, more knowledge in one place than anywhere else in the world.

The hostess and camerawoman analyzed all this in a second of observation; their real attention fell upon the people of the group, rather, the two people at the head of each group. They each sat upon a throne, behind them, their entourage.

To the right of the hostess, atop a throne decorated in arcane symbols, which only the most knowledgeable could decipher, sat a man. He was fair of hair and fairer of face, high cheekbones and blue eyes made his face all the more handsome, the epitome of pretty boy, the man's eyes held wisdom that few could match. Few didn't know of this man's title, fewer still that practiced any sort of magical craft or dabbled in lore. This man was The Sage of Wisdom, Homer, named after the man or group that wrote the Iliad, second of the three Ascended Gods and He Who Ruled Knowledge. In his left hand he held a staff, atop which sat a crystal of such beauty that it was named the Heart of the Sun. His entourage, in that vast library, consisted of twenty-five men and women, most clad in robes all who followed the path of Civilized Knowledge.

Mary turned her attention to her left after a second of awe inspired gazing. Sitting upon the other throne, was a beautiful woman, hair dark as pitch with fair skin; she held a beauty that few could match, a fact that made people wonder if she had somehow gotten around the restriction on changing her image. She was clad in a glistening breastplate that shone with unnatural light. All warriors knew her, anybody who took up arms in a fight worshipped her, asking for her blessing, she would answer. For she was the Mistress of Might, Penthesilea, named after the amazon sister of Hippolyta, third of the three Ascended Gods and She Who's Strength made the Heavens Tremble. Her entourage consisted of twenty-eight knights, paladins and warriors, all who practiced her ideologies of Mighty Honor.

The camera image fell slightly as the camerawoman and hostess bowed to the new arrivals. It wasn't a bow of subservience, even though both Ascended ruled as King of the West and Queen of the East, it was well known that neither demanded obedience upon meeting them, rather, this was a bow of respect for their actions and beliefs.

Though they bowed in respect, both of them couldn't help but feel disappointed. They had both met Penthesilea and Homer before. As the show grew in popularity, it wasn't that rare for the two of them to meet people of fame, two of the ascended gods had been interested in Mary's views of the various conflicts that she had covered. It had been an enlightening experience for both of them, they could understand how the Ascended could get armies to fight for them, and their charisma was astounding as was their will. This didn't stop the slight disappointment they felt upon noticing that their were only two of the three Gods. Nobody but the other gods and their companions had met the Kaiser in person, so when Alexander had spoke of guests and the two thrones had appeared, they had hoped for the appearance of the first and the most mysterious of the three gods.

"He's late!" The sound of the Sage of Wisdom's voice was the signal for the two women to rise. It was firm and carried weight that most people didn't have.

"You know he is very busy at the moment, simply think of the gift he brings us. Something new for us is rare and we can stand to wait a little while longer." The Mistress of Might's voice, on the other hand was light, like twinkling chimes, it belied her strength.

"Indeed, just the thought of all the knowledge waiting to be learned is making me a little excited, that is why I wish he would arrive a bit more quickly." His piece having being said, Homer noticed the two women that stared at their brief conversation. Clapping his hands once in recognition, he smiled at them. "Ah, Mary, and young Wendy, I believe we have met before, a little over three years ago, after the Crusade. You attended our feast. It is a pleasure to see you two again, I trust you have been well?"

"Yes, my lord. It is an honor to see you again, you as well my lady." Mary added to Penthesilea. "We were invited to this place by Alexander for an interview, he mentioned a surprise."

"Yes! A marvelous surprise it is indeed. One befitting of this marvelous day." It was easy to tell that the Penthesilea was excited, as were the people surrounding her as they shifted in anticipation. "We must wait for our last guest however, though I don't think it will be long."

"You are right!" An unknown voice said from the end of the hall.

She stood in front of the last stained window, the one at the end of the room. Her voice radiated sensuality but her body, her image, was one that invoked lust and desire. Her appearance was nothing less than heavenly, pale skin, large brown eyes, and deep pink hair, she held herself with maturity and sophistication that few could match, wide hips and a large bust that had tempted many a man to sin. Her large fox like ears and nine long fluffy tails demonstrated her being part of the beast man race, at least that was what people mostly believed. She was Tamamo-no-Mae, Queen of Witches, one of the only two NPCs to ever ascend to Godhood since the start of the game. She had another nickname as well, less of a tittle and less flattering but no less accurate, she was also called Kaiser's Secretary. It was well known that wherever she was found, Kaiser was certain to follow.

"Kaiser-sama has been delayed, unfortunately. It will be a couple minutes before he arrives, he sent me with his apologies." She bowed to the other two god class people in the room. It was quite clear that her character was based off of someone of eastern decent, specifically Japanese. To anybody knowledgeable on eastern folklore, her name would be the same as the soul that served in the court of Amaterasu, Goddess of the Sun, who served the Emperor Toba in the end of the Heian Era.

"No problem, no problem!" The Mistress of Might sang in response, a mischievous smile on her face. "Is that how you greet Onee-chan?"

"I do not recognize you as such!" Tamamo exclaimed, not loosing her sophisticated bearing but still her eyes sharpened.

"Tama-chan! How could you be so mean?" The reaction from Penthesilea was so over the top, it was obviously faked, but apart from Mary and Wendy, nobody reacted in the least apart from a small smile, like they were in on some long joke. Someone watching the scene would get the feeling that this was a regular occurrence, almost rehearsed.

"Now, now, her highness is just trying to be nice, no need to be rude, Tamamo." The man who spoke approached the therianthrope from Homer's side. Mary recognized him; he was an up and coming player, having distinguished himself as a good strategist during the crusade. It wasn't a surprise that he would be found with the Sage of Wisdom, someone who took great interest in anything strategic and that could provide him mental stimulation.

He was handsome, very much so. Dark hair and a chiseled jaw gave him a rather dangerous look, something many a woman would find very attractive. "While we wait, why don't you join us at the Librarium, we have some tea prepared." His voice was smooth; it was obvious to anybody that he was a bit of a player, used to having his way with women. Many people would say that his current train of thought was perhaps one of the most dangerous ones to follow, not the least because of Tamamo's predisposition for lady's men.

"Disappear lesser being!" Quad Erat Demonstrandum. She only acknowledged the man in order to reject him.

"No need to be harsh." Far from being sad or feeling down, the man took this to be a challenge and continued with his calm tone and charming smile. "I would simply like the opportunity to get to know you better."

His only response was a look, like he was something that Tamamo found under her boot.

"I would back away now if I were you, Glow." The warning of the Mistress of Might went unheard, or rather, unheeded.

"Lady Penthesilea, there is no need to be jealous, we have enough tea for everyone." Glow was nothing if not persistent when it came to wooing women, perhaps too persistent. Far from being jealous, or even offended at the pick up attempts, she found the situation very amusing.

"No, I am not jealous. I am simply warning you since you are new." Penthesilea's eyes sharpened, a heavy weight fell upon Glow's shoulders, the attention and warning of a god was not something to ignore. "Kaiser does not appreciate someone trying to take his possessions."

A frown appeared on Glow's face and irritation flashed in her eyes.

"I simply wanted to provide Lady Tamamo with some company while we waited. Besides, Kaiser is not here, is he?"

"Not here am I?"

The rugged voice was accompanied by a feeling, primal fear. As if in the presence of a predator waiting to feed, Glow slowly turned to face the window at the end of the building. In front of the window a third throne had appeared. It was made of bone, a sort of bone that Mary couldn't identify. The man on the throne, the one that spoke, was covered in shadow, unidentifiable because of it. The only thing that could be seen were a pair of golden eyes, slit like a snake's and glairing malevolence at Glow's body.

"No need to scar the boy." Homer was finding the entire situation all too funny, but he couldn't risk the mind of the boy without first training it till it rose to its full potential. Too long exposed to the feeling of terror that Kaiser radiated had damaged people before. "He is young, it takes time for them to learn what they are allowed to do."

"So long as you keep your brood from by belongings." Normally it would be offensive to be called someone's possession, NPC or no. Tamamo on the other hand, face, though still composed, was wrapped in bliss. She had wrapped her arms around her body and lost herself in her own little world.

"He called me a his belonging, hehehe." A little drool fell from the side of her mouth. "No, not in public Kaiser-sama!" Glow took this moment to discreetly make his way to Homer's side of the room.

"Tamamo!" She jumped to attention as her name was called.

"Yes Kaiser-sama!" A jerk of his head and she nodded before walking towards him, behind the throne where she disappeared into the shadow.

After his retainer had disappeared, the pressure in the room vanished, allowing Glow to resume movement and shaking Mary and Wendy out of their shock at the first Ascended God's appearance. Mary bowed immediately, not that the viewers would be able to notice because, upon awakening from her stupor Wendy immediately fell to her knees in a deep formal bow, forcing the camera to the floor.

To understand the young woman's actions, one must first look to the race she chose when selecting her avatar. Her race was a beastman, specifically she fell under the feline category, and basically she had cat ears and a tail.

It was a well-known fact that the beastman race worshiped Kaiser; players were not the exception. Praying to a god, ascended or not, grants certain benefits, the more fervently one prays, the greater they believe in the might of their god, the more benefits one can receive. Ever since the beastman race accepted Kaiser as their patron god, players that chose that race received the most benefits of anybody praying to their god. There have been many reasons put forth, some say it is because he was the first player to ascend to godhood, others believe that he is simply the most powerful god, and some claim he is the most benevolent. The end result was the same; beastmen and women, player and NPC, revered the man.

With a casual look towards the two women, specifically Wendy, Kaiser's eyes softened slightly.

"Rise." The word was spoken as an undeniable order; the way he spoke was as if the mere thought that somebody would defy him was absurd.

The camera paned up, giving most viewers their first true view of the true Kaiser, grated he was wreathed in shadows and only his yellow eyes could be seen, but it was the first time many people had seen the first Ascended God and the first time he was ever recorded on camera.

In the game, Gods' Nature, privacy was a concern because people could hook their capsule to a computer and remove a recording of everything they had seen, so the creator had installed a privacy setting. By turning it on, the person wouldn't be able to be recorded on other people's videos, insuring they wouldn't be posted in public without their consent. Most people didn't use the setting because if they are recorded it can lead to fame from the various posts online. If a TV station saw something they liked then it could lead to a contract for a lot of money. There were notable exceptions of course, Kaiser the greatest among them.

Alexander took this moment to progress things along, having stayed behind the camera since his guests had arrived.

"As you can see, for this special event I have invited these three and their companions. My surprise comes in three forms, the first, as you can see, was my guests. The second," here he looked to the man sitting on the throne of bones, "Kaiser, if you would?"

The shadowed man nodded, raising his hand, a golden crown appeared in it. It was ornate, something that wouldn't be misplaced on the head of a king. Throwing his hand in the air he tossed the crown to the ceiling, specifically towards the hole in the ceiling. It tumbled over itself in its flight once it reached its peak in the center of the celling it disappeared in a flash.

The ceiling began shaking; the mural that depicted all the discovered places of the world started to shift and writhed. The sea on the side of the world started push the rest of the image away, mist started to spread over the ocean before parting, revealing a major landmass. It's size was only slightly less than that of the center continent, a massive river splitting it in half. Half covered in lush jungles, the other, in a barren dessert.

The new continent was something unknown to anybody in the room. Staring at the ceiling, her eyes wide and overcome with surprise.

"Recently my friend here," Alexander regained the room's attention, gesturing to the man at end of the hall, "has completed a two year long quest that has unlocked a lost continent. One that requires exploration and discovery, expanding the places left in the world by an entire thirty percent. Unknown lands, new quests and a unique culture are all available for discovery by every day players."

Mary tried to cope with everything going on, she really did, but simply too many things were going on all at once.

First was the appearance of Homer and Penthesilea with what looked to be the top players of their guilds, The Society and the House of Honor respectively. As if two ascended gods and their entourage weren't enough, the Queen of Witches showed up announcing the impending arrival of Kaiser, the first and last of the Ascended. Thankfully the little byplay between some of the guests had allowed the hostess a chance to ready herself for Kaiser's arrival. She hadn't readied herself enough it seems as she was taken off guard by the sheer presence of the man, simply by looking at her from his throne of bones had been enough to make her, one of the stronger players in the game, feel like a mouse before a bird of prey. Finally, the announcement of the completion of a quest and the new continent was the straw that broke the camel's back.

This was huge!

Bigger than huge, this was monumental!

When Mr. Bartholomew said it was a momentous occasion, she had simply thought he was talking about the twenty-year anniversary, not the fact that he would have everything people knew about the game overturned. This wasn't simply new content or an expansion pack as some people thought would happen, this had been in the game since the beginning and nobody knew about it till just now. The mere thought of what it represented for players was staggering. If there was one lost continent, could there be two of them or maybe three?

Mary would bet her entire life savings that as soon as the announcement was made, news stations the world over had convened to discuss the revelation on their shows.

A clap of hands followed by another, then another. Slowly the sound of applause rose form the sides of the room, Homer held a content smile on his face whereas Penthesilea wore a radiant smile. Both were very pleased at their colleague's success but more so about the opportunity to explore the new continent.

Kaiser simply nodded his head to each of his fellow gods before focusing his attention back towards the inventor who waited for the applause to die.

"Yes we are all very happy about what our friend has accomplished, and I am certain that everybody here and everybody watching the show right now are very curious-"

"Excuse me?" All eyes focused on Mary immediately for her interruption, it was amazing how small she felt before such titans, she continued none the less, pushing down her fear of the people who could kill her in less time than she had to react. "Something you said earlier about the difficulty rankings of quests got me thinking, so I must ask: What was the difficulty ranking of the quest in regards to this new continent?"

"I must admit, I am quite curious as well." To Mary's relief, she found an unlikely ally in Penthesilea who had turned to the first Ascended for the answer as well.

"Indeed, it couldn't have been anything less than SS, the time alone that you spent on it would qualify it as such." Even Homer seemed to be getting into it.

Kaiser didn't speak for a moment, his eyes focused entirely on the interviewer since her interruption, those golden orbs staring deep into hers. Mary swallowed the spit that had built up within her mouth in nervousness, but didn't dare look away. She felt that if she did she would lose something, something important. What it was, she had no idea, but she wasn't going to risk it. If only she could tell what was going on behind his eyes, what he was thinking.

Finally the moment was over, he turned his head to look to the Mistress of Might before answering.

"EX." Two letters that would eventually redefine everything that people knew about the mysterious Kaiser.

"EX?" Thankfully Mary wasn't the only one confused about the letters, so the Sage of Wisdom asked the question instead. "Is that the difficulty that comes after SS?"

Rather than Kaiser answering, it was Alexander who stepped up to explain. "EX isn't really a difficulty rating. As you are no doubt aware, sometimes a quest has a different difficulty than the standard lettering, this happens if it is a Nature quest, a quest that only certain people can achieve or if the conditions for the quests are more unique than usual. EX is a quest that, unlike SS++ quests like The Crusade, which had a difficulty of 40,000,000, when at the start of the mission the system went to calculate the difficulty of the quest, it calculated that it was impossible to complete thus making it an EX ranking quest."

The hostess suddenly had to swallow her very dry throat.

In a way she shouldn't be surprised. Kaiser had always accomplished what people thought impossible; it was only now the game was actually recognizing it for the first time. When his name was first heard it was because he was single handedly fighting two different armies, then, as his fame raised higher and higher, players started to hear about his adventures more and more. Finally, he was the first to ever achieve godhood in the game, paving the way for the other two. The hostess had also just learned that he was the first person to have a Time Quest as well, now he had completed an impossible quest, the most advanced machine in the world had said so, and discovered a lost continent.

Seriously, what was next?

"As I was saying before I was interrupted." The high elf had the grace to look sheepish. "I am certain that everyone is curious about the quest, everything will be revealed in time because, for the first time, my friend has allowed us the opportunity to watch his adventures. That's right! He has agreed, at my request, to provide the recordings of his adventures from the past twenty-years to the show Nature's Path. Should Miss Mary here agree, then Kaiser's greatest adventures and experiences will be open to the public for the first time. So, what do you say, will you show them on your show?"

As if she really had a choice in the matter, if she didn't accept then not only would the recordings go to another show, stealing her ratings, her viewers would lynch her, knowing how fanatical Wendy was about Kaiser, she might also loose her camerawoman. Not that the hostess ever really considered refusing in the first place, her curiosity alone wouldn't let her. Besides, if she did show them, she could push for more screen time on the channel in order to show them properly, making her more money than before. All in all, there was only one thing she could say.

"I would love to!"

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><p>And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.<p>

_- King James Bible "Authorized Version", Cambridge Edition, Book of Revelation, 13:1_

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><p><strong>So what did you think?<strong>

**This chapter is both a prologue as it is a bit of an epilogue (though I don't plan on ending the story once it catches up to that point.) I had hopped to give a little insight into the game world as well as the players' viewpoint while simultaneously hinting at important events that will be shown later.**

**That being said, if you like the story then Favorite and Follow it, f you have any advise then review. I will also recommend going to have a look at my other Fiction; it is a RWBY teaser of a story I haven't fully decided to write yet.**

**Hopped you enjoyed,**

_**Reiders out.**_


	2. The Final Countdown

And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

_-King James Bible "Authorized Version", Cambridge Edition, Book of Revelation, 13:1_

* * *

><p>The screen of the of the television once more faded from black, though this time it wasn't to the scene of the Pantheon of Ascended Gods, instead it was more of a formal sitting area. The room appeared to be made out of some sort of wood, with the exception being a stone fireplace off to one side that was currently unlit. Light radiated from torches along the walls, with a window opened in the back wall, allowing the smoke to leave while providing fresh air.<p>

Outside was dark, once more being nighttime in game. Instead of a picturesque landscape of clouds like the Pantheon displayed, it was a dark forest, where the chirping of insects could be heard with the occasional sound of a monster roaming around.

There was no door that could be seen, likely hidden behind the camerawoman. In the center of the room were six seats, three comfortable looking plush armchairs, two ornate rocking chairs and a long couch. A beautiful throw rug was in the center of the circle that the seats formed.

The audience was familiar with this scene, having seen it numerous times before. This was a small cabin, owned by Mary, the host of Nature's Path, which she used when she wanted to interview people in game. Currently this video was being broadcasted all over the world, both in game and not, though people in real life were watching with a slight delay due to the time difference in game.

Currently there were only two people seated in the living area, excluding the camerawoman, Wendy. Mary sat in one of the armchairs, wide eyed and practically bouncing with excitement. Alexander was once more with her, though he chose to take a seat on one of the rocking chairs, slowly rocking back and forth as he watched the high elf with amusement.

"Welcome viewers, to Nature's Path, the show where I take you deep into the mysteries and adventures of the world. Today, I once again have with me Alexander Bartholomew, the creator of this marvelous world. For those of you just joining us, yesterday, earth time, five days ago in game, I received marvelous news. I have been given the great honor of being able to broadcast a very special program.

That's right! I was given the chance to show you all videos of his Highness, Lord Kaiser's adventures! For the first time ever, we will have the chance to see the trials of the first and most mysterious of the Ascended Gods. He has paved the way since very early in the game, but we have only had rumors and stories before today, to base our knowledge upon. No more! We will be able to watch one of the world's greatest legends as he rose from simple player to a God of Myth.

I know you are all terribly excited I am too! Before we begin however, there are a few things I must make clear. First of all, for all those that were in a dungeon or for some reason were unable to watch my last show, it will be posted online for download along with any subsequent shows. You won't need to restrict yourself in order to watch this special event.

Secondly, before we actually get to watch the videos provided, I feel the need to tell all my viewers that all videos have been edited before being sent to me. As per my agreement with Mr. Bartholomew." Here she nodded towards the inventor, who nodded back to her from his position on his chair. "The videos provided to me will be aired immediately, that means that I have no knowledge before hand about video content, so there is no point in messaging me about it.

Finally, thanks to my now extended air time, before I am set to receive the videos, I have enough time to talk to a few guests before hand, to get their opinions on how the show progresses and to answer some questions. Today, as you can see, my very first guest is none other than Alexander Bartholomew himself, he has expressed interest in this show, so he should be a regular appearance."

As she spoke, the high elf didn't let her radiant smile fade even a little bit. Not only had she extended air time, she also got to speak with various important figures, the other two Ascended had already expressed an interest in appearing once or twice so she was looking forward to that as well. But the thing that really got her spirits up, the event that would be the pinnacle of her career was the fact that she would be able to watch the rise of a legend.

It wouldn't be wrong to call Kaiser a religious figure. Though he was a god in the game and had a church dedicated to him, as did the other two Ascended Gods, he was perhaps the most widely contested one. He was the only Ascended to have a religious following in the real world as well as in game. You had to have an opinion on Kaiser, whether good or bad, everyone and their mothers had heard of him.

He was held as the pinnacle of players. Having gone where no one had gone before, he was always blazing the trail, leaving only the occasional clue for the rest of the world to follow. He was the peak of Pioneers. Having joined early in the game, or was the original thought, he set out to explore the world as no one had before. He was the modern day Columbus, Heracles and Julius Caesar all rolled into one.

This is even more impressive if you take into account that all his deeds remained shrouded in mystery. Merely rumors spread by NPCs or the occasional player who was lucky enough to catch a glimpse as the man performed one of his amazing feats.

This would be the first time that the general populous would be able to see and experience what the Ascended had accomplished.

And she got to host it!

This was history in the making, documenting and exposing the rise of legends. Was this what writer's felt when they wrote about their culture's heroes? Could she be feeling the same thing that the writers of the Epic of Gilgamesh had felt when they wrote about mankind's first hero and king? Mary didn't know the answers to those questions, but she knew one thing.

This was the reason her nature was Chronicler!

She could literally feel her attunement towards her Nature grow, perhaps by the end of these broadcasts she could finally break through the barrier and reach Saint level attunement.

"You are really looking forward to this aren't you?" Though it was phrased as a question, it was more of a statement than anything else.

"Of course!" The hostess answered the inventor immediately, not even bothering to think about her answer. "I am probably not the only one either, sir. I have no doubt that people are putting off exploring the new continent in order to watch this show. This will be the opportunity many have been waiting for, the chance to answer so many of our questions.

People have been wondering after Kaiser for the longest of time, ever since the Battle of the Empty Plaines. That is only the start of it! How did he come to own the Labyrinth of Kinbadum? How did he create the Legion? How does he have not one but two, the only two Ascended NPCs, following his command? How did he travel through the Mountains of Madness so early in the game? What happened under the Sea of Night? What was his Time Quest? How did he cure the Withering? What is the story behind the three Brother Barad Cities?

Who was the Wyrm King and how did he kill it? Emis the Necromancer halted all expansion in the south, yet Kaiser managed to defeat him, allowing people to continue the expansion, how did he do it? What lived in the Tomb of Horrors? How does he know the Grimm, the Hermit and the Banker? How did he assume control of Liene, the Dragon's Lair?

Most of all, how did he ascend to godhood? He was the first to do so; he opened the door, proving that it was possible. People have had these questions for almost twenty years now; in a few minutes we will be able to watch how he accomplished all this. This is most definitely something to look forward to."

The inventor simply shook his head in amusement, enjoying the exuberance on the young woman's face.

"Trust me, no matter what you believed, or what you thought about his actions, I can assure you that you are nowhere near close to guessing the truth. I can bet that within the first two episodes of this series that all your expectations will be blown through the roof!"

"So you have seen it then, the videos we will be watching, can you tell us anything about them?" Mary asked eagerly, an energetic light in her eyes.

"I actually haven't seen the videos, I have merely heard the stories from someone close to Kaiser, sometimes from the man himself. But I have no doubt, having known the man for so long, that he will prove to be the most interesting person to watch."

"So you and Kaiser know each other well, then?" The hostess had calmed down a little while the inventor was talking and now had simply assumed her habitual position as inquirer, she still had a duty to her viewers to try and get as much information as possible.

"Quite well in fact! I have known him since right before he started playing Gods' Nature. You see, I was on my way to visit someone quite close to me, but when I arrived I found out they had been in an accident, and would have died if not for Kaiser's timely intervention. Unfortunately, he was hospitalized right afterward, the accident had shredded his entire back and disconnected his spine. If not for modern medicine he wouldn't be able to move at all, though it still placed him in the hospital for two years.

I naturally wanted to express my thanks, so I paid for his medical bills and his wages while he was there, having no issues with money, but I still felt bad about him not being able to move for a while. So I set up a capsule that allowed him to play Gods' Nature while he healed. He originally didn't plan on playing the game, not wanting to pay for the expensive hardware or subscription, as you can imagine, I had no problem waiving the fee in recompense."

"Amazing!" It was an amazing story, but a sobering thought. What would Gods' Nature be without Kaiser and his influence? Would they still be trapped in the Age of Pioneers, wandering, trying to reconnect the Gates? Would nobody have ascended to Godhood? What about the Foundation? Would they have taken over completely?

"Yes, he was amazing back then, so much untapped potential. Even I had no idea he would come this far, it really makes me happy that I could provide the opportunity for him. I shudder to think of what could have happened had he continued to live his life like he did before he joined the game."

"Oh?" Her interest sparked, she leaned in towards the inventor. While Kaiser's adventures were founded on rumors in the game, nobody knew anything about him in real life; it was as if he simply appeared from nowhere. He had never given an interview before either, so everything known about him was second hand.

"While I can't say much without betraying his trust and privacy, I can tell you that Kaiser was not nearly recognized as much as he deserved. In fact, he was looked down on a lot. It wasn't until he started playing Gods' Nature that he truly came into his own."

"That's shocking!" Indeed there were many people who simply idolized him, never really giving any thought to the man behind the God. It just goes to show that not everything is, as it seemed.

There was a moment of awkward silence, neither of them knowing how to continue the conversation at that point while they waited for the video to arrive. Instead Mary decided to change the subject.

"While we're waiting, I have a few more questions from my viewers. If you don't mind answering, that is?"

"No problem!" The man looked relieved at the change of topic.

"All right, the first one I have for you is from Barbarous, he asks: 'what is the relevance of Nature Attunement compared to Levels and Skills.'"

"A good question but one that requires a rather lengthy answer, if you don't mind?"

"No problem, we are still waiting on the video after all." She waived him forward to continue. He did so, sitting a little straighter in his chair.

"Everyone knows the basics of levels, this concept is as old as RPG's themselves. You start at level one or zero, depending on the game; you gain experience until you level up to the next level. This is the basic of the basics, the finer details vary from game to game of course, but in God's Nature every time you rise in level you are given five stat points to distribute to your current stats.

Everybody also knows the basics of stats; you start off with the basic four stats at the start of the game, irrespective of your race, or gender of nature. Strength and dexterity, intelligence and wisdom, there are other stats that you can get in game such as endurance, charm, willpower, charisma and art. There are quite a few stats to be developed in the world, some of which you can allocate points to, others you can't. Stats and level are the basics of your character, the physical portion; everything you do affects and is affected by your stats and level. Naturally the higher the level and more stats you have, the stronger, more adaptable you are.

So far so good?" He asked making sure his audience was following along, at her nod he continued. "Now, level and stats affect the power of a person, but skills are a person's techniques. You can be the highest level of character, have enormous stats but if you cant use them or your skills aren't a match for you stats, then you are much weaker than you should be. When I say that skills are a person's techniques I mean that literally and figuratively, you can have hundreds of techniques to use, skills, but if you don't train them then they are useless to you.

Now, a fight is made up of three things, power, skill and experience. Power is anything physical or the power a person can release, meaning it encompasses speed, magic, dexterity and physical strength, anything that has to do with the amount you are able to bring forth in a fight. Skill is really what you are able to do with your power, somebody with high enough skill will always beat someone with high power, because they know how to use their power to its fullest. Experience, I am not talking about the experience for leveling up. It relates to how you use your skill and power, this knows when to retreat, when to attack, knowing which attacks will work against which enemies. I sometimes call experience understanding or enlightenment, because it is the culmination of the entirety of your actions and how you use them.

Now, when I set out to make my game, my world, I wanted it to be as close to real life as possible, with a few obvious exceptions of course. So I wanted to capture the essence of life and fights in the game. This was more difficult to do than you would think; it is not about just graphics or the virtual reality experience. It is about how you live in the world! I had levels and stats to represent power, the physical aspect. I had skills to represent skill, the technical aspect. But how do I represent, and quantify, experience, the spiritual aspect.

My game doesn't read the minds of my players, despite what conspiracy theorists think. The most it can do is recognize certain brainwaves, and recreate them after a while. This is how a player will eventually be able to use skills without having to call them out loud. And, how do I quantify experience, everybody learns at different rates after all. I eventually decided to tie it into the Nature system I had already developed. I mentioned how those who took actions that were closer to their Nature's would receive a small experience boost in leveling up, it is the same for Nature attunement, the closer your actions mirror your Nature, the more Attunement will advance.

Much like leveling up will provide more stats and how raising one's stats will make them more useful, a higher attunement means that you will get more benefit from your nature than a lower attunement. Nature Attunement is the representation you experience with your Nature, how well you understand it, how well you fit it and it fits you."

"That is a very impressive system. I take it that it is Overseer that decides whether or not your actions are in tune with you Nature?"

"Yes and no, don't forget that everybody set their own Nature at the start of the game, they provided the description of it as well as a name, so Overseer takes the template you made and sees how well you adjust to it, if you act completely at odds with the template then you wont understand your Nature will you?"

"No, you wont! Thank you for that description, it certainly answered a lot of questions. My next question comes from Giovanna; "You mentioned that the game's history was all organic, that it all happened before players got there. How do you explain the convien-?" As she asked the question, a beeping on her menu interrupted Mary, pausing for a moment, she read it. As she did, her smile, if possible, spread much wider on her face.

"My apologies Giovanna," the hostess said as she looked towards the camera. "Your question will have to wait for another time, I am afraid. I have just received the video from Kaiser, we are ready to air it if you are ready, sir?" At the inventor's nod she turned her gaze towards the camera and her audience all over the solar system and in game.

"Then it is my great honor to present to you, a special series on Nature's Path. I give you: Rise of a Legend!"

At her words the screen faded to black once more.

* * *

><p>Anyone invited to speak on Nature's Path while in game would come to the cabin belonging to the hostess, barring special circumstances. It was relatively easy to get to, being only a four-hour walk from Selwe, otherwise known as the First City, towards the outskirts of Ammamiwch Forest. Knowing the location, it would be understandable to realize how much money the show Nature's Path had made over the years, real-estate near Selwe sold for millions of gold per acre in game and billions of dollars in real life.<p>

It wouldn't be wrong to call that little cabin more impressive than many castles in reality.

It wasn't just players who were invited to speak on the show however, sometimes it would be NPCs, who didn't really understand the concept of the "real world" but understood that they had a method of communication that allowed people to show images all over the world, thus leading to the advent of Television in the game.

It was only really shown in plazas, pubs, taverns and other places people congregated. Nature's Path was perhaps the show played most often but by no means was it the only show. There were many that ranged from showing details posted by people on a quest to simply international news, who was fighting whom for what reason and other such events all over the world.

It was because of this giant web of information available to the masses, both player and NPC, that would make Rise of a Legend so popular. It wasn't just players who were curious about Kaiser after all, most of the NPCs of the world were curious as well. Because of their individual mini-AI in each character, they all had individual stories and characteristics, making them people in the loosest sense.

This all culminated in plazas, taverns, castles, markets and anywhere else with a television being flooded with people, wanting to watch Rise of a Legend.

While this was happening all over the world, another, more unknown event was taking place.

If one were to look at a map of the world, they would notice the super continent immediately. If you used said continent, the only continent on the planet at the time, as the center of a map, as most maps do, then you could see that the continent is vaguely shaped like a chalice.

Its rim at the top extended a little on the right as it connected to the frozen north, creating a sort of crown of land right before the ice caps. At the foot of the chalice, the land once more formed another rim around the ice of the south. From the south, as you traveled north, the land starts to shrink, becoming narrower and narrower before expanding again, forming the cup shape.

Though mountains appeared here and there, there were two prominent mountainous regions in the world. They were both located in the 'cup' part of the chalice, one nearer the east, the other the west. The chain of smaller mountains in between connected them, creating a natural passageway in between.

The easternmost circle of mountains were called the Khuramunz Highlands by the inhabitants of the world, but mostly referred to as the 'Highlands'. This region was the smaller of the two mountainous areas but by no means was the area it occupied negligible. If one were to compare it to a region of the real world, perhaps the best area of comparison would be the Canadian Shield on a larger scale.

The mountains were more rounded than pointed, creating hundreds of valleys where they connected, with the occasional peaking mountain like one found in the Alps. Volcanoes also doted the area, most of them remaining dormant but the occasional one would activate, spewing its rage for the world to see.

The second, larger mountainous area in the world would be it the central-western part of the cup. Dubbed the Mountains of Madness by the original inhabitants after they fled from their homes, this region was perhaps only comparable to the Himalayas. The Himalayas spread over an area the size of the United States, with its highest peak being a little over a third the size of Olympus Mons on Mars.

To put this into comparison, Mount Everest stands at a height of 8,848 meters above sea level. Olympus Mons, previously the largest known mountain in the solar system, stands at a height of 21,229 meters above sea level. Mount Ekur, the largest known mountain in the game, named after the Sumerian equivalent of Mount Olympus, is estimated to stand at about 25,000 meters above sea level, though nobody knows for certain as nobody is stupid enough to try to climb the whole thing for a measurement.

Not only were the mountains massive, they were also incredibly dangerous. Snow storms, avalanches, and rockslides were only the natural disasters that would kill you. The monsters of that region had evolved to be powerful enough to survive living in the area, and there was also a major lack of food available. This made, even after twenty years, traversing the entire region above the mountains suicide unless you were a rather large contingent of high-level players.

There were three seas in this world. They were considered minor, more like massive bays than anything else. All three decorated the east coast of the continent. In the south, formed by the bottom 'rim' of the chalice, and where the 'handle' extended a little, lay the Cobalt Sea, named so because of the deep blue of the ocean caused by the crushed minerals along the shore.

Slightly to the north, framed by the 'cup' of the chalice in the north, and the 'handle' to the west and south, with numerous islands connecting to the major ocean. This was the Cyan Sea, named because of its light greenish-blue color; it's position near the equator made this area one of the most desirable vacation locations in the world.

Yet farther north still and slightly to the east, along the edge of the 'cup' of the chalice lies the third sea. Named the Sea of Caste, for the ruins of Boyhill Castle that lay on an outcropping to the north and the tragedy that happened there.

These are the three 'minor' seas of the world. There were two more 'seas' in the world, though they could be considered oceans instead. The first was the Sea of Night, the northernmost sea. It surrounded the northern part of the 'cup' of the chalice, wrapping it both in the east and west. The name 'of Night' came about because of a unique phenomenon in the center of the sea where there were always major storms brewing, blocking out any hint of light.

The last and greatest 'sea' surrounded the 'handle' of the chalice. This was the Silent Sea, making up at least fifteen percent of the world's surface. It was named because of the major area at its center where there was no current or wind, where no animals resided. It was a graveyard for many curious sailors. Incidentally the 'Silent' area of the Silent Sea was the area that the new continent appeared.

It was in the Silent Sea, at a point between the new continent and Selwe that lay an island. It was large, measuring over ten thousand square kilometers. On the north of the island were two mountains; one an active volcano that was still smoking. To the south was a forest, more accurately called a jungle, filled with life. The east of the island was made up of a large, rocky area, boulders decorated it and the ground was loose and craggily. On the west lay a plane of green grass leading to a beautiful beach, the water was clear and clean, decorated in vibrant coral.

At the center of it all was a city, or at least the shell of a city, as the number of humans that lived in it could be counted on two hands. Stone towers twisted and rose, sometimes circling each other. From a distance it looked as though the city was a circle of thorns, the towers twisting and turning, jutting out from each other. They were made of a stone but not just any stones. Sometimes they were formed of topaz or amethyst, ruby or sapphire, carbuncle, jasper, malachite, the numbers and forms were endless. There were tunnels and plazas around the area, rooms in the occasional building were all unique, as if grown out of the rock naturally rather than hand carved.

In the center of the city, surrounded on all sides by nine towers of diamond, each one a color of the rainbow and black and white, lay a palace. The only structure man made on the entire island, it had been modeled after the Taj Mahal. Grand and imposing, it seemed at odds with the chaotic towers around it and yet still seemed to fit. In front of the palace was a long field, pools lay here and there, all modeled in various patterns after animals. It was one of the most beautiful places to live in the world.

The island was a unique place where almost any creature could live their life in peace, a marvel that couldn't and wouldn't ever be recreated. It wouldn't be wrong to call this island a Wonder of the World.

It was also moving!

Traveling at about twenty knots, it was moving faster than almost all ships in the game. Its wake was massive, it could be seen for leagues around.

In the palace, in a room next to the balcony overlooking the field, stood a throne of bone. It wasn't originally placed in this room, but it responded to its owner's call and appeared when needed. Despite being made of bones, massive white bones, it was probably one of the single most comfortable chairs in the game, so long as you had permission to sit upon it. If you didn't have permission on the other hand, you were likely to get skewered by the bones when you sat down.

Currently its owner sat upon it, gazing out the open doorway leading to the field. Though he was wreathed in shadow, only distinguishable by those slit eyes, he still looked as if in deep contemplation.

He wasn't alone in the room either. Tamamo stood behind the throne slightly to the right, staring at Kaiser intently, her ears and tails occasionally twitching. Three more people were also present, two women laying on a couch pushed up against the wall. The couch, made of a supple leather, was illuminated by two lamps hanging above it. The two women, their figures distorted by the flickering shadows, were lying relaxed, one's head lying propped up on the other's lap.

Both were reading books, paying no attention to the darkness in the room, to everybody present it might as well have been noon. The fifth person in the room was the only other man. He leaned against the wall in the back of the room, next to the doorway. His figure was obscured by shadow, but every once and a while a flash of pale skin, shining like the moon, would be able to be seen.

Though it was dark, the atmosphere in the room was very relaxed. Having spent years together, this group had no problem letting there guard down amongst these, their closest friends.

The room stayed like this for the next ten minutes, the only sounds coming from the breeze passing through the open doorway to the balcony, and the occasional turning of pages from the two women lying on the couch.

The atmosphere persisted even as a fourth woman entered from the doorway next to the hidden man. It was still dark in the room but all occupants could still see her turn towards the throne.

"We are ready at any time, Nero."

If he heard her, the man on the throne didn't acknowledge it, continuing to stare out into the night sky and further. The others present knew better than to interrupt him now, it was moments like this that brought them this far. Eventually he spoke, voice filling the room though he almost whispered his words.

"Almost a hundred years, almost a full century." There was something in the way he spoke that brought the five other people in the room to attention. "Looking back, we have come a long way haven't we?"

The question was rhetorical so nobody answered.

"All the trials we have faced, the burdens we have carried, the pain, the loss, and the enemies. We have overcome them all! Even Gods fell before us!" Everybody subtly puffed his or her chest out in pride. "The world, both this one and the other, are about to see most of it, they will see all we have accomplished and they will tremble! They will try to imitate us, and they will fail!" His voice rose until he almost roared the last word, before softening once more. "This will not come without cost however, many of our secrets, our personal lives that we have worked hard to keep hidden, will be out to the public.

I am doing this to repay a debt I feel I owe to a friend. He asked this of me, and I didn't have the heart to deny him his dream. My friends, my companions, my family, I ask this of you: will you allow my selfish wish?"

It didn't even take a second for the answers to come.

"We will follow you anywhere!" This response came from the two women lying on the couch, simultaneously. If people could have seen Nero's face, they would have noticed the slight smirk of amusement at their response. He didn't know if they did it accidentally because they were twins, or if they did it on purpose to mess with people, but it always amused him when they were so in sync that they could speak so perfectly together.

"Though I didn't always appreciate it, you have not led us astray once. You have always taken care of us, given your all for us. Compared to that, this is nothing." That was the woman that was sitting up on the couch, running her hands through the others hair. The one lying down spoke up as well.

"Besides, you might even gain another cult, we all know how much you value the one you already have."

There were chuckles around the room as Nero twitched in response. They were well aware that he wasn't particular happy about the real life religious figure he had become. In the game it was understandable because praying to a god, Ascended or not, granted certain benefits such as a blessing. In real life however, there was no such benefits, yet churches were still being built to worship him. It was estimated in a recent survey that if his religion continued to expand at such a rate, it would overtake the remnants of previous religions within two decades including, but not limited to, Atheism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and other once large beliefs.

Trying to change the subject from a group of fanatics on the lookout for him, the man on the throne turned to the woman who had just entered the room.

"And you? You have always given me good advice; you helped me when I needed it most, so what do you think about this?"

"I think…" she started slowly, somewhat hesitantly before steeling herself. "I think this is what should be. You might be revered now, people might have a general idea, but they don't know you. They don't know us! I think that this show will give people a more realistic view of what happened in the world. The truth is most often better than fiction, if a tad more odd. As for whether I will allow your 'selfish wish'? My debt is much larger than yours; if you hadn't done what you had I wouldn't be here today. I promised you that the life you saved was yours to keep. No matter what you choose, I will stand by your side."

The atmosphere after this declaration shifted slightly. While it warmed a little with the emotion of her words, the three other women in the room were not so happy with the words. Sensing the danger, the man in leaning against the wall took this opportunity to speak up.

"This course of action is not wrong." He paused for a moment, shivering slightly from four pairs of eyes glaring at him for ruining the mood, but at Nero's signal, he continued. "You know that I have urged you to take a more active involvement in the world. Of the three Ascended Gods, you are the only one that doesn't have a nation of your own. You have the Legion, you have worshipers, but you have not given the world any real image to uphold, no flag to wave in your name. My advice is this: use this show, repay your debt, but also give the world their idol, their god. Give them a goal, an ideal, and they will follow you into the abyss."

He always did have a way with words, able to inspire emotions with naught but a few sentences, he had learned from the best after all. The man on the throne nodded at his words but didn't give any more indication of his thoughts. He turned to his shadow, the last person who had yet to speak. Tamamo stood behind him, so when he went to look at her, he had to turn his head to the side.

"Tamamo, will you also give up your privacy for my whims?"

"Privacy? What privacy? All I have is yours Goshujin-sama. You, who saved this one, gave her a name, nurtured me and gave me power. I have ascended to the realm of gods; become an entity that can no longer be simply cut down like wheat. I owe this all to you. Whatever you wish of me, this lowly servant will accomplish. Anything~"

Nero didn't miss the way she stressed her last word, with her grin her meaning was all too obvious. He couldn't help but twitch slightly, for someone who comported herself so subserviently she sure was uppity. He knew he shouldn't have given her that book on her namesake. Since then she had taken to acting like a concubine, a very, very, veeerrrrry eager concubine. It didn't help when she was given books of a more… adult nature. He still couldn't believe those two girls he had known read that kind of stuff.

Once more he switched subjects, asking again:

"Jorry, you who have been my first companion, been with me since the beginning, what do you think about this? Your story perhaps is the most intertwined with mine. You will have the largest breach of privacy. Are you willing to allow this?"

Any observer looking in on the room would have been quite confused with the way Nero spoke to mid air. There was nobody in the room that had yet to answer this question. An observer wouldn't have known that Nero's connection to 'Jorry' was so close, closer than brothers that they would be able to talk to each other from other sides of the world without the need to send messages. An observer in the room also wouldn't know that to the north, between the volcano and the mountain, a great eye opened, swiveling towards the south, towards the center of the island.

Back in the room, a voice echoed, it rumbled in a deep baritone, like the shifting of mountains.

"Why does it matter what I think? We both know you will do it anyway."

Though he said it roughly, there was something in his voice, an undertone of something indefinable.

A few minutes passed with nobody speaking, Nero simply sitting there, waiting. Eventually 'Jorry' conceded and gave his opinion.

"I want them to see." He said softly, impressive considering how loud and deep his voice was. "I want them to see how a small, normal serpent with neither wings, nor hands, nor feet, conquered the sky! I want them to know of our power, to know that our Legion and us three Gods are the masters of our fate! Never conquered or vanquished! I want them to tremble!"

The roar he let out shook the castle; a lesser building might have fallen but not this palace. As the shaking subsided, Nero once more spoke softly, more to himself than to anybody else.

"I guess that's it then."

Standing from his throne of bone for the first time in a while, Nero took measured steps towards the balcony, followed by the other five people in the room. Though it was nighttime outside, the light from a nearly full moon made the surrounding area as clear as day to these people.

The balcony was made of white marble like much of the palace, causing it to reflect the light from the moon. Looking out across the field, Nero couldn't help the smile tugging at his lips.

It looked like a party!

Bonfires roared all over the place, casting wild shadows around. Music played all around, different tunes in different places and the sounds were combining to create a chaotic symphony. Food was being cooked, dancing, singing, this was a massive revelry.

The revelers were the things that would attract the most attention however. They were all beast, monsters and wild animals, undead and humanoid creatures of every type.

Two sirens, lying in a pool shaped like a turtle, were trying to get a vampire to join them. Nero was fairly certain it was a joke due to the weakness vampires had to water.

Three massive bears were dueling, their claws flashing out, roaring in challenge. Any injury was swiftly healed by a nearby spriggan, the tree woman kept well away from any of the fires.

Seven women, wearing revealing clothes, danced around a bonfire. There were bodies gyrating to music creating a seductive effect capable of enticing even the most holy of men. Though anybody willing and stupid enough to try and seduce one of them probably deserved whatever he got when he was eventually sacrificed to Kaiser.

All around, wherever the eye looked, more and more fantastical beasts and creatures could be seen, even past the field below the balcony, all over the moving island more parties were going on, not one place was calm.

The celebration had been going on for over seven days, in game time. Ever since the completion of the quest about the lost continent, Nero had given them leave to relax, to let loose. It had been over a decade in game, almost two, and they had worked hard, lost companions and friends, fought bravely and accomplished what nobody had before, it was alright for them to have some time off. It wasn't like they were hurting for money anyway.

But now it was time to address the masses.

"_**LEGION!"**_

The roar, for it was too resounding to be called a shout, resonated all over. From north to south, east to west, the entire island shook with the force of the sound. His voiced carried over distances that shouldn't have been possible, echoing throughout the land.

The celebrations ceased in an instant, all eyes turning towards the center of the island, towards the balcony on which Nero and his companions stood. Some of the creatures took a knee, kneeling in reverence, others simply continued to stand but made certain they were paying attention.

"_**Nearly a hundred years ago, a full century, I started my journey! I have faced beasts and kings, dragons and gods! I have conquered kingdoms and toppled nations! **_

_**I didn't do it alone!**_

_**You, who have stood by my side through thick and thin, aided me, supported me! There is no challenge we have not overcome together! Together with you, my friends, we have now completed a world-changing event; we have returned an entire continent to the world! My companions!**_

_**We came! We Saw! We CONQURED!"**_

Nero once more roared the last word, even as the crowd erupted in cheers, roars and bellows echoed around as beasts and creatures echoed the sentiment. Some beat their chests in pride, others chanted his name, and still more simply roared their joy to the sky. The cheers were silenced immediately after he began to speak once more.

"_**I have been asked to show the world my journey, my adventures! The world wants to see! They want to know! So let us show them! Let them see as we tore ourselves a place in this world! Let them know of our might, let them tremble before us as they face their own helplessness! Let them know that we are bloodied but unbowed! Let them watch as foe after foe crashed against us like the waves upon the shore, while we remained firm and uncompromising!**_

_**We, the victorious, shall show them why we have never been defeated! We shall show them why we are Legion: for we are Many!"**_

Even amongst the cheers and bellows of approval, Nero's grin turned ferocious, hungry. He opened his menu pressed a few buttons, sending the video towards its destination.

"Let the show begin!"

A great dragon roared its approval!

* * *

><p>And they worshipped the dragon, which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him?<p>

_-King James Bible "Authorized Version", Cambridge Edition, Book of Revelation, 13:4_

* * *

><p><em><strong>I had originally planed for this chapter to also include the start of the show, Nero's introduction to the game. But if I wanted to do anything meaningful with it the chapter would have been more that ten thousand more words at the least and taken me another month so I decided to simply stop it here for now.<strong>_

_**Reiders out!**_


End file.
